CMG Articles

Deaths and serious injuries resulting from preventable medical errors are a major problem in this country. Independent studies estimate 90,000 people die each year in hospitals alone because of such medical errors. This toll in human loss is the equivalent of 600 airplanes, with 150 passengers each, crashing every year. If only a fraction of such crashes occurred, it would be treated as a major national tragedy leading to a huge public effort to prevent such human losses in the future.

Since the mid-1990’s the medical literature has reflected a growing awareness of the risks of post-operative pain medications in a patient with sleep apnea (obstructive sleep apnea or obstructive airway syndrome). In patients with obstructive sleep apnea, the airway completely or partially occludes during sleep despite respiratory effort. Arousal from sleep temporarily reopens the upper airway, but falling back asleep may close it and start the process of airway closure and arousal again.

In some cases, even when it is clear that a health care provider was at fault, it can be challenging to prove which provider it was and how much worse the error made the patient. In this case, it was necessary to convince two different providers to contribute toward a settlement based on the risk that each might be the one found to be responsible and that the negligent act resulted in the patient’s death 6-1/2 months later.

Medical standards are involved in determining when a surgical patient needs medications to prevent the development of deep vein thrombosis (clots in the legs) and in monitoring the medications after surgery. The article outlines the legal issues involved in a claim arising from negligent treatment that leads to deep vein thrombosis.

This article discusses the complex medical and legal issues involved in determining whether there is a causative relationship between the events before and during a birth and the outcome of a severely injured baby.